


Angel

by BrokenChosenofEva



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-03 18:37:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6621796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenChosenofEva/pseuds/BrokenChosenofEva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>-Alternatively: I'm Needed. [which is in the process of being written, a proper and fleshed-out version of Angel.]-</p>
<p>Clips from a whole, Asuka and Touji face the final Angels and find a life after it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bardiel

Asuka slammed her laptop shut and turned to glare out the window, as several chairs over Touji sat in near total confusion as to what he had done to get that response. Hikari, two chairs in front of Asuka, glanced back at him – her childhood friend – and sighed, shaking her head with a sad smile on her lips.

Touji frowned back at her, then looked back down at his screen as he mentally went over what had led to his last statement and thus her response.

_Shouldn'ta said I used to like Hikari…_  he groaned,  _shoulda just asked her what she meant, like most dumb jocks…_

Putting his face in his hands, Touji sighed and wondered for the tenth time why he was taking his little sister's advice and being more open with Asuka. And, as before, realized if he wanted to go without injury – and pursue anything deeper – while sharing the apartment, he honestly needed to put some effort into getting to know her.

The door to the class room opened, and as the teacher walked in Touji decided to try and apologize at the apartment.  _But I still don't think Asuka likes me._

000

_So much for figurin' out what's wrong at the apartment_ …

Touji frowned inside Unit-02's entry plug as he and Asuka waited for the Angel to crest the hills between them and the Matsushiro facility. Both of them cradled the newer railgun given to Nerv after the disastrous attack of the Thirteenth Angel. Honestly, however thought regular – if gigantic – machine guns would be any good after the Third was anyone’s guess.

"Have we heard from Misato yet?" Asuka, secure in Unit-01, asked over the radio for the fifth time in the last fifteen minutes. While Unit-02 was technically her unit, after what happened to Touji in Unit-01 when he sortied against Zeruel, no one wanted him in it again.

"No, not yet." was Lt. Ibuki's reply, "I told you, when we hear from them I'll let you know immediately."

"I know, I know."

"Geez Asuka, ya'd think ya were worried or somethin'…" Touji mumbled.

"Despite what your Otaku stooge friend says behind my back, I am not a heartless demon!" apparently not quietly enough to avoid Asuka's good hearing.

Though at least she was talking to him again.

"Fer cryin' out loud Soryu," Touji whined, "I was jus' jokin'!"

"Well it wasn't funny, Stooge!"

"Target now cresting the ridge!" Maya yelled over their argument, a mix of annoyance and panic in her voice, just as the Angel's head appeared over the hill.

"That's the new Eva unit!" Touji yelled.

The black and pink Unit-03 slouched its way over the hill, swinging its arms back and forth limply. Eyes glowing red and jaw hanging open – almost seeming unhinged – the Eva/Angel was perhaps the most unnerving either Child-Pilot had seen so far.

"Moving out!" Asuka yelled as she ran her unit towards the Eva, "Is it Piloted?"

"Unknown." Maya replied, "We can't get any telemetry from the Plug."

"Engage and destroy the angel." Kozo ordered, "Retrieve the Entryplug if doing so does not put you at risk."

"…Understood." Asuka spoke, hesitating only a moment before dropping into a kneeling position and aiming her rifle. Extending her AT-Field out to erode the Angel's, she opened fire at it's knees.

The rounds blasted into the suddenly unoccupied terrain as the Eva/Angel flipped through the air to land on Unit-01's shoulders, slamming it face first into the ground as Asuka screamed in surprise.

"Asuka!" Touji yelled from his seat inside Unit-02 – as what felt like the entire world once again came crashing down along with Asuka's Eva – even while he raced to reach her before the Angel could kill her. A feeling far too similar to the battle with Zeruel for his liking.

The obviously violent and Angel controlled Unit-03 snapped Unit-01's right arm backward and tore it from its socket, then proceeded to slam its newly acquired weapon against the armor over the Plug Socket. All the while Asuka raged at the Angel, screams of pain mixed in. After a moment Asuka stopped screaming, and the Angel suddenly seemed bored.

Touji froze. In an instant, it felt like he had just lost everything important to him. And it HURT.

Screaming, _roaring_ incoherently, Touji rammed the butterfly handles forward and launched his chariot at the Angel. As he slammed into it, he wondered why it had been so easy to hit. He was answered a moment later when the Angel dropped out of his grip and spun its arm against the back of his knees, dropping him to the ground.

_It wanted me close_ , He thought, _figures_.

Rolling to the side and onto his stomach, Touji pushed off with his hands and feet like a frog, leaping a short distance away. Catching himself, he rolled his Eva into a crouch – ready to leap at or away from the Angel – only to receive a punch to the face.

Reeling back, Touji reacted on instinct. Blindly swinging his fist up and around, he felt it connect with the Angel just as the stars left his vision. The Angel responded by flipping Unit-02 through the air towards Unit-01.

"Damn." rolling to his feet, Touji tapped a switch set into the face of the left joystick, revealing the Prog. Knife in the left pylon. Drawing it, he hoped he knew what he was doing. He’d better, after the spars against Asuka. Sparring sessions that never failed to leave brusies.

Seeing Unit-02 draw the weapon, the Angel snapped its arms up and flicked them at Touji. Extending like a bungee cord, the Eva's arms reached across the distance to wrap around Unit-02's neck. Beginning to choke, Touji slashed into the Angel's left arm, the knife's blade biting deep. Shrieking in indignation, the Angel release its grip with that hand, pulling it back as the Prog. Knife slid from the cut, and viciously backhanded Unit-02.

Touji spun and slammed to the ground, stars coating his vision for several seconds before he rolled to his feet. His vision cleared just in time to see Unit-01 backhanded by the Eva/Angel with its rubber like right arm, sending her to crash down next to Touji.

"Asuka!" Touji cried, then crouched as the Angel possessed Eva charged him.

"Get its core," Asuka gasped over the radio, "Save the Pilot."

Right as the Angel reached him, Touji smashed his right thumb down on the switch simply marked Spike L.

The Eva/Angel stumbled and slammed into Unit-02, and Touji promptly stood and flipped it behind him. The possessed Unit-03 slammed to the ground, and Asuka in Unit-01 dropped to it's knees next to it. It was at this point that Touji noticed the extra damage to both Unit-01 and Unit-03, damage which must have been incurred while he was trying to clear his head.

"Don't be dead, please don't be dead…" Asuka's murmured prayer could just barely be heard over the radio as she attempted to remove the Plug from the defeated Eva with only one hand.

Suddenly cold inside, Touji moved over and gently pushed her aside, carefully pried the armor plate off, then used his recovered Prog. Knife to pry the Entryplug free. Seeing Unit-01 kneel in preparation for ejecting its Entryplug Touji called over.

"Asuka, wait fer the medics-"

"NO!"

Touji jerked at the vehemence in Asuka's voice, his EVA rocking with him, but carefully set the freed Plug gently on the ground.

Ejecting his own Plug, Touji scrambled down the emergency ladder, and raced over to where Asuka had crashed to the ground. Despite her obviously limp right arm, Asuka had managed to climb the nearly sixty feet from Plug to ground before slipping and falling the last ten.

"I have to make sure I didn't kill him…" Asuka gasped as she tried to stand, "I won't be a murderer."

"Then wait here while I check on it!" Touji spoke firmly, gently pushing Asuka back down – careful to put his hand high on her left shoulder to avoid any misunderstanding – as he knelt next to her.

"Fine," Asuka growled, panic still flitting through her eyes, though her expression was set in a hard line, "Be quick about it."

Giving a nod, Touji stood and raced towards the slightly bent Entryplug. As he reached the small emergency hatch, he noticed that it looked different from his and Asuka's Plugs. White with red trim, instead of the Eva's number stenciled on the side it simply read ‘Dummy Plug-A’.

_Please don't be dead. Please, please don't be dead…_

Opening the hatch, Touji glanced inside only to see a mass of piping and sparking circuitry still thinly coated in LCL, the majority of which now pooled on the ground.

"There's no one inside…" Touji called back, both confused and relieved, "It's just a big computer…"

Turning, Touji looked back to find Asuka had passed out. A quick jog back allowed Touji to check her plugsuit's wrist block. Seeing the steady flash of the heart monitor, he stood and jogged back to his Eva to call in the med-evac VTOL.

With teams on their way, Touji returned to Asuka’s side. Sitting next to her, he carefully lifted her head high enough to gently balance it on his leg so it was no longer on the ground.

"That was too close to home, huh, Asuka?" he murmured, glancing over at the downed Eva and bent Entryplug. "Us Pilots gotta stick together…"

_Way too close… There's only two of us, so we can't lose anyone._ Touji thought,  _So I'm not gonna let you ignore me. We're gonna work together to keep those kids safe, and see this to the end. Even if the end kills us._


	2. Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [hopefully I didn't mess up the formatting on this one...]

"I promised. Did you hear me?" Asuka whispered, shoulders tense.

Touji listened from the door of the children's room as Asuka checked on Shinji, Rei, and Mari, asleep in their beds.

"Yeah, I heard ya." he gruffly whispered back, looking as tense as she did. Asuka straightened up before turning to him.

"I wasn't kidding, stooge." she glared, and he jerked his head in a nod.

"I know," he gave a nod of his head towards the living room, "When you're kiddin', ya fling a lotta insults."

The red-head walked passed him and into the living room, flopping down on the small sofa, and none of the tension left her frame. Touji followed – just as tense – and sat on the small, overstuff chair he'd bought after Nerv moved him into the building. Their movements were rigid, mechanical, almost automatic.

He'd originally had his own apartment, but his little sister – and Rei and Shinji – had convinced Asuka and him to move into her apartment. But… he didn't really mind too much. He'd be the first to admit he can't really cook, and Mari would agree the way only eight year olds can: innocently blunt.

The fact that the two ten-year-old kids worked together and gave him and Asuka some breathing room after school and Nerv was nice too. But no matter how good they'd been today, it just hadn't helped. Nearly dying at the hands of an Angel that was controlling an Eva that you didn't know if it was Piloted or not tends to make you… stressed.

"Things are getting harder…" she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear, and he nodded in agreement.

"If I heard Fuyutsuki right, we only have four more."

Both young teens sighed, the sound seeming far older than it should coming from ones as young as them, and Asuka turned and laid down on the sofa. Silence reigned for several moments before Touji spoke, hesitant at first but slowly growing more confident.

"I've been thinkin' …"

"Does it hurt?" Asuka quipped, interrupting him, sensing the seriousness in his voice without seeing the concentration on his face.

"I've been thinkin',” he glared, but his expression shifted to a frown, “About while I was trapped in Unit-One…"

The red-head sat up, looking at him with a blank expression, all her attention focused on him.

"I remember bits and pieces from when I was in there. There was a woman… brown haired and blue eyed, like Shinji."

"Yui." Asuka whispered the woman's name, her voice neutral. 

Touji could only shrug as he continued, "I think we talked for a while, her askin' questions and me answerin' them. I remember she said Shinji and Rei are very important."

"Damn right they are."

"Asuka, let me finish." Touji snapped, voice soft, and she stilled, "She said we have to keep them safe. Made me promise her and everythin' ."

Touji paused, his expression a visible argument over whether or not to say more. After a few moments, he spoke again.

"Then, we talked some more. It was 'bout you this time…"

"What?!" Asuka blurted out, staring at him, and Touji refused to look her in the face and turned away instead, but not before she caught a glimpse of a blush on his cheeks.

"I don't remember what we said, except… except she made me promise something' else…" he turned back to face her, faint red still dusting his cheeks, but his expression was still and neutral, "The same promise you made to try and get me back."

"I promise I'll help you…" she breathed, knowing the words, and looked down the hall to the kids’ room.

"Tuh keep'em safe…" he whispered, following her gaze.

"And I won't ever leave you…"

"Jus' don't leave me."

"Manipulative bitch, isn't she?" Asuka asked, looking down at the carpet in the middle of the room.

"Just forceful…"

Asuka snapped her gaze up to Touji's face at the tone of humor in his voice. The faint, soft smile on his lips seemed to settle something in her a little.

"Between the ‘you’ I see out there in battle, and the ‘you’ I see here with those kid…."

"What…?" she whispered, still on edge but curious.

"I'll stay as long as ya let me… heck, maybe long after ya scream at me to leave." his face becomes serious, "I'm tired Asuka. Tired of Eva and Angels and being by myself."

"What if I'm not done standing by myself? Hmm?" Asuka questioned, tense and defiant.

"I am, Asuka." he said, eyes searching, voice firm, "Aren't you? I've proven myself, I think. I'm not the best, but I bet I'm at least you're equal. And _I'm_ almost passed tired of standing alone."

They sat in a tense silence, both searching the other's expression for some hint of their thoughts. Finally, after what seemed like hours but was only minutes, Asuka almost imperceptibly bobbed her head, her gaze locked with his.

"I-I'll let you close…" she murmured, face still blank as his. Eyes now unsure like his, "But if you leave again…"

"Hikari will kill me, If I don't end it myself." He smiled faintly, "You, my sister, and those two kids are too important to me for me to willingly leave."

Asuka's eye widened as she quietly sucked in a breath at his declaration. He stood slowly, and she stood quickly, tense and ready to attack or run as he approached. He stopped just outside her personal space.

"I'm done being alone with Eva. Can we at least lean on each other?" his voice quiet, his body tense, and Asuka again gave him a tiny dip and rise of her chin. Looking down, she mumbled something, her right hand twitching as if she was fighting it from moving. She murmured again, louder.

"Mama's not close enough." she looked up, a faint shimmer in her eyes, as finally one hand and then the other lifted.

Touji took the hint and stepped closer, the two teens sliding into a tense, edgy, embarrassed hug. Slowly, the tension left them, and they moved from simply standing in each other's arms to holding and leaning into each other.

"I'm tired…" Asuka said, voice shaking, her chin on Touji's shoulder and her breath lightly tickling his ear.

"Me too," he breathed, not moving. 

Asuka smirked tiredly, "That means you can let go."

"You first." and he knew she could hear the faint smile in his voice.

"Maybe… carry me." she said suddenly, and Touji jerked at the request.

"You-I hav'ta-say what?!" he babbled, and Asuka chuckled, grinning over his shoulder.

"You heard me just fine, Stooge: carry me."

"Al-alright, Red" he gulped, then dipped down and put one arm behind her knees and swung it up, keeping the other behind her shoulders. 

Asuka squeaked and jerked her arms from his back to around his neck as he carried her – bridal style – to her room, and set her on her bed. Standing up and stepping back, he saw that Asuka's face was red as his felt. And his felt red enough to glow.

"Good night, Touji." she said, sitting and watching him leave the room.

"G'night, Asuka. I'll see ya tomorrow."

Touji gently closed the door, then crossed the hall to what was Shinji's room before he moved in. Asuka now slept in Rei's old room, and the children all shared Asuka's old one.

Going in and sitting down on his futon, Touji flopped back and put his hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. As the two teens drifted off, neither could shake the feeling of still being warm and safe in the other’s arms, and silently hoping they’d get to see where it might one day lead them.


	3. 18th

"Free-will, right?" Asuka yelled at Kaworu, "Why are you doing this if you have free-will when all the other Angels didn't? What about me?"

"You are the Eighteenth, the Angel of Choice. What good is my free will, if I never had a choice." Kaworu said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Each of us built upon the last. I am more than the sixteen who came before me, and you are more than me."

Misato stared, unable to reconcile the sight before her with what she had come to accept as true. Angels burned cities, they didn't take care of kids. They destroyed lives, not lived them.

But as Asuka floated in the air in front of the massive white form of what Misato now knew was Lilith, she realized that she would have to let go of her hatred if she wanted to avoid losing the young girl that was her daughter in everything but blood and law.

Hikari couldn't believe it either. Sitting within her chariot, having beaten down the Kaworu-controlled and partially rebuilt Unit-03, she could do no more than Misato.

That, and switch between hoping Touji got there in time, and that he never saw this.

In front of Asuka hovered Kaworu Nagisa, the boy who had just openly declared himself the Seventeenth and challenged her to stop him and accept her fate as the Eighteenth Angel as she kept him from Lilith.

000

Ten minutes prior:

Asuka walked down the corridor towards what she knew was the Regeneration Cage holding Unit-03, and only a few feet ahead of her – leading the way – walked Kaworu. He had asked – serious instead of his usual laidback smile – if she would walk with him as he wanted to discuss something important. Although it had sent a strange shiver of apprehension down her spine, she had agreed and followed.

It was no help that the closer they got to Cage, the more it looked like Kaworu was hesitant to continue. And the more it felt like ice and fire had begun to flow in her veins and touch at the edge of her consciousness, making her just as hesitant.

"Kaworu, just tell me what you wanted to talk about already." she hated that she could hear the edge of nervousness in her voice, and did her best to cover it with impatience.

Opening the door into the Cage, Kaworu sighed and walked a touch faster to stand in front of the mostly reformed Eva.

"I tried over and over in my mind to decide how I would say it." he murmured, his voice sending an odd sense of fear and excitement through her, "But I'm at my limit. All I can find to do is show you, my equal, what is next so you can save her."

"Save who, Hikari?" Asuka ignored the sensations, forcing anger into her words, "What did you do to her?!"

"Nothing," he said, and now she could not ignore the echo in his voice, "except failing to keep away from my purpose."

When he stopped speaking, his eyes flashed red and a bass thrum seems to pulse from him and fill the room, striking a chord in Asuka even as the Eva's eyes glowed a baleful yellow and alarms went crazy.

"I am Tabris. And as much as I have fought my nature, I can no longer stop myself." he said, the continued struggle on his face showing he still had not given up, "You, Asuka, must stop me."

With a gesture Unit-03 moved to obey him, the both of them moving out of the Cage and toward where Asuka knew the access shaft for Terminal Dogma was sealed.

And it clicked. All the times she'd effortlessly connected with the Eva she Piloted, how she seemed to heal faster than she should, and the feeling she kept getting as Kaworu spoke and took control of the Eva.

She was one too.

The revelation shook her to her core, and had she been a more broken girl, a more prideful girl, it might have broken her too. Instead, she took hold of the liquid fire in her veins and pushed.

With a thrum of power all her own, and eyes glowing blue, she flew off after Kaworu.

Angel or not, she was going to save her family and friends.

000

"Pattern Blue detected in the Evangelion Regeneration Cages!" Makoto yelled, and in an instant the bridge became a scene of controlled chaos.

"Bring up a visual and deploy the Pilots!" Misato yelled as she ran into the bridge, closely followed by Ritsuko.

"Asuka isn't responding, and Touji is in the tram on the way down to the Geofront." Maya alerted the bridge, "Hikari is on her way from the Ready room to the Cages."

"Send Section 2 to find Asuka, track her Nerv cellphone!" Ritsuko said as she moved over to a station near Maya's.

"Video on screen!"

And then silence reigned, as the suddenly regenerated Unit-03 stood and began to break out of the lightly armored Regen-Cage. On its shoulder stood the Fourth Children: Kaworu Nagisa.

"Fourth Children is the source of the Pattern Blue, reclassifying as 17th Angel." Maya said shakily, "Magi confirms change of designation."

"Where is Asuka!" Misato yelled over to Makoto, who jerked away from his station just as the Angel alarms changed tone.

"Second Pattern Blue detected!" Makoto yelled, face pale, "It just left the Regen-Cage, and has passed the first Pattern enroute to Terminal Dogma!"

"What?" Misato yelled, "Get the pilots in their Evas NOW."

"I have a visual of the second pattern…" Makoto said, then pressed a key.

"No…" Misato murmured, watching in horror the image now displayed on the massive hologram – the double caption reading both First Children and 18th Angel – before she turned and bolted for the door.

000

Present:

"So it's my choice." Asuka glanced down, frowning in thought, " _My_ choice, not your's, not the commander's, _mine_."

"Yes, the choice is your own." Kaworu smiled sadly, and Hikari finally realized what he had been implying with his challenge.

Both the Seventeenth and the Eighteenth turned when they heard the strangled gasp that came from Unit-04's external audio, and found Hikari had backed her unit into the wall beside Heaven's Gate, sliding to the ground as they watched.

"My choice Kaworu. Things don't always go the way people want when I get my way." Asuka swung her gaze back around to Lilith, her eyes blank, as Hikari finally spoke.

"Please, not Kaworu." The brunette Pilot choked out, "There has to be some way-"

"Only my way." Asuka said tonelessly, and her eyes flashed.

"NO!" Kaworu cried, unable to stop the cross-blast that struck and vaporized the lower half of the Second Angel, and he froze as Asuka screamed, her arms wrapped around her waist as she fell to the ground.

It HURT when she did that. Why did it hurt? Was she connected to Lilith? Maybe. Well, she was going to finish this if it killed her.

She didn't want to die, she really didn't. She wanted to be with Touji and care for Rei and Shinji and Mari. She even realized she wanted to celebrate a Mother's Day for Misato and what she'd done for them. But it was her CHOICE. Always her choice. She wasn't a DOLL!

Doll?

Asuka groaned as she sat up and gingerly shook her head. Blinking her vision clear, she glared up at the boy Angel.

"You can't have things both ways!" Asuka roared, eyes flashing as she fired another blast that knocked Kaworu out of the way, then a third that left behind only Lilith's hands nailed to the massive structure.

"You can't- you can't have free-will and still be forced to merge with Adam!" she gasped, "Free-will is being able to make a choice."

Kaworu sank to the ground, falling to his knees as he stared at where Lilith had hung, and watched the hands rapidly dissolve into LCL. The pipes that were once embedded into Lilith's back hung scorched and useless.

They all heard the hydraulic hiss as Hikari ejected her entry plug.

Feet slapping the ground as she ran across Lilith's chamber, Hikari flew past Misato – past the barely standing Asuka – and straight to Kaworu.

"Why?" she pleaded, lightly placing her hands on Kaworu's shoulders as she dropped to her knees in front of him, tears visible at the corners of her eyes, "Why did you try to get yourself killed?"

"Because if I died, The Council would lose. They need Adam, but after Kozo burned him with the Lilim's artificial sun, he became lost." Kaworu said tonelessly, "So they decided to use me, by making me bond with Lilith, because I was genetically the same as Adam."

"But why not just do what Asuka did?" Hikari demanded, fierce, tears slowly slipping past her rapidly blinking eyes.

"Because I am still an Angel, and Adam and Lilith are the first of us." he finally looked Hikari in the face, and smiled painfully, confusion and sorrow readily visible in his gaze, "Could you kill your parents, if all they did was ask you to come home?"

Hikari pulled Kaworu into a tight hug as tears slowly began falling down his face, realizing for the first time just how much Asuka's mother must have hurt the girl with her death and manipulation from beyond the grave.

"Are these… tears?" he asked, voice filled with a mix of wonder and sorrow, "Am I… crying?"

Hikari shushed him, gently rocking them both back and forth like she had done for her younger sister after their mother had died, her own tears falling.

As the Class-Rep cradled Kaworu while he wept, Misato walked over to the barely standing Asuka. The redhead seemed to take no notice of the older woman’s approach, instead looking out over the LCL lake with half-glazed eyes. Before Misato could speak, Asuka half-turned towards her, just enough to glance at her from the corner of her eye.

"I don't know what to do." she said, "I couldn't kill Kaworu, and Nerv's job is to kill Angels."

"He's not a threat anymore." Misato struggled with what to say net, "Asuka-"

"And me." Asuka cut in as her voice started to shake, "I'm an Angel too."

"It doesn't matter."

Misato and Asuka spun in surprise at the voice, and turned to the deep shadows back behind them in the direction of the personnel door Misato had used.

The red-head’s eyes widened when Touji stepped out from shadows and began walking towards them, slightly out of breath and still in his track pants and white – now sweat soaked – t-shirt.

000

Five minutes prior:

"D*** it!" Touji gasped, turning and running into the male pilots changing room, "Of all the days I take the long way, it had to be when uh Angel attacks the place! And not jus' one, 'cause that'd be too easy!"

Tearing open his locker, Touji jerked his track suit jacket off and tossed it behind him.

"The 18th Angel has been identified!" Maya's choked voice coming from the loudspeaker jerked the jock to a halt just as he pulled his plugsuit from the locker, “It's… It's Asuka!”

"All Evangelions to Terminal Dogma, I repeat, All Evangelions to Terminal Dogma!" Makoto's voice replaced Maya's, "Hikari, Touji! Get down there and stop Unit Three and Kaworu! Worry about Asuka later!"

"Asuka…" Touji's mind was amazingly calm for someone who just found out he'd been living with the enemy. But then, he would admit, he was a rather simple person. Not simple as in simple-minded, but simple in that his view of the world was relatively basic. Good guys help you, and bad guys hurt you. Good guys try to save the world, bad guys try to destroy it.

Asuka had always helped him and his little sister, and helped those twins she lived with before that. She always worked to the limits of her abilities to stop the Angels, and pushed Touji and Hikari to do the same.

"U-unit Four engaging rogue Unit Three!" Hikari's shaken voice announced, and Touji realized the bridge had hit the base-wide switch.

Bolting out of the changing room he ran straight to the elevator Misato-san had told him led down to Terminal Dogma.

"Please let me get there in time!" he prayed.

000

"Weren't ya listenin' to yer own speech?" Touji glared, walking up to Asuka and standing stiffly in front of her, "Ya made a CHOICE, Asuka! Ya jus’ took out half of duh reason for dis whole mess, and the other half was already gone!"

"I'm an ANGEL, Touji!" She cried and grabbed his collar viciously, screaming in his face as her eyes continued to glow a bright blue, "I've spent the last year fighting them, and the four years before that training to fight them! And now I find out I _am_ one!"

"What's yer point?" Touji yelled back, hurt tinged his voice, "Don't ya remember our promise?"

Asuka flinched and jerked back, the glow leaving her eyes, but Touji grabbed her shoulders to keep her from running. Misato's eyebrows climbed as she listened to them.  _How did I miss this between them…_

"The. Promise. Asuka." he ground out each word.

"I promise I'll help you…" she whispered, looking down.

"Tuh keep'em safe…" he continued, waiting for her to look back up.

"And I won't ever leave you…"

"Jus' don' leave me." He finished, "I said then you're too important to me for me tuh leave."

Asuka's shoulders shook slightly as Misato blinked at the revelation that the two had shared with each other the promise the red-head had made while Touji was trapped inside Unit-01. The promise she screamed at Unit-01 the night it released the boy onto the catwalk, right at the girl's feet.

"I wasn't kiddin'."

Asuka took a deep, shaky breath, and reached up and took hold of his hands on her shoulders. Gently holding his hands, Asuka stepped up to him and leaned against him in a near mirror of that evening weeks ago. Misato simply stared in amazement as the self-proclaimed Asuka the Great, someone who claimed they would never need anyone, allowed her mask to slip.

"It hurt, Touji." she whispered into his chest, "Like some cross between when my Eva would be hit, and that feeling when I thought I was being forced to kill another Pilot."

"I got ya…" Touji murmured, gently holding her, "It's done now."

"Ok." she breathed, determination filling her voice, "I'm Remiel, Angel of Mercy not Choice. Can you handle that?"

"I've handled you so far, I figure this just means I'm not lying when I tell Ken I'm gonna marry an Angel."

"Wha-?!" the shock, amusement, and joy that fill her face was almost enough to freeze Misato in place, but she cleared her throat and interrupted anyways. There were more immediate concerns to be dealt with.

"First," Misato said, carefully, almost gently, "We get out of here. Hikari, bring Kaworu. He can hide out at my place until Seele is dealt with."

"Ok," Hikari called over her shoulder, then gently got the boy Angel to stand, "Come on Kaworu, let's go."

"Misato, you know what I am now. Can you still trust-" Asuka started, only to be cut-off with a sharp wave of Misato's hand.

"Can it, Asuka." Misato snapped, then took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose, "Yeah… The angels took my father away and hurt a LOT of people, and you are one… but you two didn't hurt anyone. You… you’re like a daughter to me."

"Misato, what'll we do 'bout Seele?" Touji spoke up as he and Asuka started walking back to the personnel door, Hikari leading Kaworu to them before running back to her Eva.

"Rits said they might try a frontal assault using the Eva-series." she said, grim faced, "If they do, we'll need all of you at your best. We might have as little as twenty-four hours."

"But three to one?" Hikari asked over the external speakers, sounding doubtful, as she guided Unit-04 through Heaven's Gate, "And Makoto-san is trying to reach you. I'll tell him we're on the way up."

"You'll do fine." Misato said, pausing a moment before whispering to herself, "Or it's all over."

000

Asuka and Touji walked into the apartment they shared with Shinji, Rei, and Mari to find all three kids sitting around the coffee table in the center of the living room. Mari sat on one side, a concerned look on her face, while Shinji and Rei sat on the other side looking exhausted.

"Welcome back, Asuka." Rei said, her exhaustion obvious in her voice, "I guess you fixed all of our problems."

The red-head's eyes widened, and she dropped to her knees next to Shinji and Rei, gathering both in a hug.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it would hurt you." she apologized, "When I did it, it hurt, but I didn't think it would affect you."

"It's o-ok." Shinji said, "It didn't hurt that much. Rei thinks that's because we're more Adam than Lilith."

"And," Mari jumped in, "Adam only called, he wasn't connected with the other Angels or anything."

Mari then blinked, looking at Asuka funny, and tilted her head to the side a little.

"Did you say it hurt you too?" she asked, then grinned, "Are you an Angel like Rei-chan and Shinji-kun?"

"Mari…?" Touji looks at his sister with a mix of confusion and surprise, "Did they tell you that?"

"um… no." Mari murmured, looking off to the side while her fingers danced on the tabletop, "It was a lady… she looked kinda like Rei-chan, but she was more grown-up."

"What? When?" Asuka looked around the apartment, nervous as her exhaustion fled, "Is she still here?"

"No," Mari replied nervously, "It…It was a while ago… I guess the same time as the fight with the glowing snake Angel…"

"What did she say, Mari?" Touji asked calmly, walking over and picking her up.

"Just that I had Angels for friends, and they would need me to help them adjust to being free." Mari smiled then, "She said one day you would remove the bait, and be free. That must be today!"

The two teens shared a look of confusion, wondering if it had been Lilith, or the dream-Rei that had visited little Mari. Touji shrugged, and Asuka smiled back. It didn't matter which one had found the little girl, she had made it so Touji’s sister would be there for them and not be afraid.

"Yeah," Asuka whispered, just loud enough for the kids and Touji to hear, "Must be…"

000

"Commander, I think you have some explaining to do." Misato was menacing as she stalked past the Section 2 guards at the door to Kozo's office – who saluted her, making no effort to stop the obviously enraged woman – and marched across the massive room to face the man who thought he held most of NERV's cards.

For Misato, her forty-five Magnum was the ultimate trump card.

"Ah, Kasturagi. I was wondering when you'd arrive." Kozo turned his chair around, bringing the lighting in the room up to normal, "There is much planning to do before Seele plays its last three cards to begin Third Impact."

The simple and direct admission of guilt made her pause, but only for a moment. Snarling, she reached across the desk and grabbed the faintly grinning man by his uniform's jeweled collar.

"I want the truth, you bastard." Misato drew her sidearm and removed the safety, "And I want it now, or we find out just how important you are to running Nerv."

Kozo paled slightly, but otherwise did not react. "I believe it is really quite simple, Katsuragi. The Children are the key to it all."

"Start from the top." releasing her grip on his collar, she shoved him back to his chair and stepped back.

"The Children are Nephilium-"

"Toji and Hikari aren't." Misato interrupted.

"Would you like the answer or not?" Kozo snapped, "Even Toji and Hikari have some genetic tampering to make them more capable in synchronizing with the Evangelions. All the Children do."

Misato took a threatening step forward. She couldn't  _believe_ what Nerv had done, just to fight the Angels. _Toying with childrens' genes-_

"It was Yui's plan, and Kyoko's." Kozo murmured, freezing Misato in place as he looked down at the surface of the desk, "And Rokubungi went right along with her."


	4. Us Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason these take so long between uploads is I'm editing the chapter and cleaning it up. The old version was, I admit, rather rough. Then again, it was written well over 4yrs ago ^.^;

"I could strangle you right now."

The blunt statement from the red-head beside him gave Touji pause as they stood outside the doors to the restaurant.

"In my defense, Asuka," he sighed, mildly frustrated, "I did ask ya what ya wanted to do."

"I didn't think you'd take it serious!" she argued, gesturing to her favorite yellow sundress, and shooting his track-pants and school coat an arch look, "And I really only said take me to dinner. I just thought you'd take me to Ichiraku's Ramen Cart, like last time."

"You enjoyed it?" he turned to glance at her, arching an eyebrow, "I though it wasn't up to your standards."

"Did I _ever_ actually say that." was her flat reply, accompanied by a level stare.

"Well..." he sighed, admitting defeat and scratching the back of his head, "No, you didn't. I just thought I'd try somethin’ fancier."

"Don't get me wrong, stooge." she grinned, reaching over to rest a hand on his shoulder, "I'm glad you at least know what fancy is."

"But."

Asuka glared, then sighed, "But I think I'd have preferred Ichiraku's."

Shrugging, Touji offered her his arm, which she took with an air of royalty. Then ruined the image by grinning as Touji lead her into the five-star restaurant and smiled back.

0o0o0

Dinner went well. They had no problem getting in, something Asuka had been unsure of. Touji, however, had used some fore-thought and made the reservations in person, thus preventing any gaffs when he brought Asuka. The food was good, and the conversation refreshingly light after the last few weeks of dealing with Tabris, SEELE, and the UN investigation.

Despite what she had implied earlier, her sundress did not stand out among the other diners. Neither did Touji's school uniform, which she knew he must have dug out and prepared specifically for this.

0o0o0

On the walk home, Asuka found herself distracted by thoughts of the last year, and mild surprise that it had been only a year since she arrived in Tokyo-3 to fight the Angels.

And met Touji at school. Something she was very grateful for.

Her thoughts ranged from her arrival, to accepting guardianship of the twins Shinji and Rei. From training Touji when he became a Pilot, to allowing him and his sister to move in with her to make it easier to protect them and get the two Pilots to the Eva Cages. From getting Kaworu as a Pilot, to discovering she was an Angel as well.

It was the last that still bothered her, at least a little.

Not that she would let it change her, like going by her Angel name of Remiel. She had always known herself as Asuka, and so did everyone she cared about. And really, Remiel was not the whole of her, only an aspect that she had to accept.

And she liked to pride herself on being adaptable.

She jumped slightly when Touji lightly touched her shoulder, drawing her from her thoughts.

Turning to look, brow arched, the red-head saw the concern behind his eyes, "What's got ya spaced out, Red?"

"Whether or not to still strangle you." she smirked.

"Sure," Touji snorted and chuckled, "Really, what's on your mind?"

"Just the other side of me."

"That all?"

Still somewhat distracted, she missed his teasing tone and elbowed him in the ribs. Crossing her arms she snapped, "Well excuse me for letting a major new aspect of myself distract me."

"Easy," Touji griped, rubbing his ribs, "I was only teasing, not belittling you."

Asuka arched an eyebrow, her expression amused.

"Yes, I know what the word means." he said in a flat tone when he saw the look.

"I know you do, you aren't as dumb as you let people think. Not that you have to act that hard to get them to think that." she teased further, then dropped her arms and sighed, "It just… still bothers me a bit, being an Angel."

"I told ya before, it doesn't matter." he said firmly, setting a hand on her shoulder, "You're still you."

Asuka smiled, grateful, taking his hand from her shoulder and linking their fingers as they walked on, silent for a few moments. Coming to a stop, Asuka turned to face him, "You trust me, right?"

He must have seen the slightly pinched look between her eyebrows as she thought, and kept from being sarcastic.

"Of course."

"I'm gonna try something… my S2 lets me do it." She pulled him close, hugging him tightly.

Returning the hug, she felt him set his cheek against hers and sigh a quiet "ok".

And then she felt as he fought down a very unmanly scream when a pool of black opened beneath them and sucked them in-

-and pushed them up and into their living room.

As the bright blue glow faded from her eyes, Asuka waited and watched as Touji took several deep breaths and calmed down.

"I could strangle you." was his raggedly given opinion.

And as her crystal laugh filled the apartment, Touji couldn't help but smile and laugh along.

**Author's Note:**

> The order of the Angels is altered from canon for this story.  
> Up to the 13th, the order is unchanged. The 13th is Zeruel, instead of Bardiel. The 14th is Bardiel instead of Zeruel. And Kaworu appears, without an Eva, before Armasael, though he is still considered the seventeenth.
> 
> Arael and Armasael also trade places.
> 
> In short, the order of third through seventeenth is as follows: Sachiel, Shamshel, Ramiel, Gaghiel, Israfel, Sandalphon, Matriel, Sahaquiel, Iruel, Leliel, Zeruel, Bardiel, Armasael, Arael, Tabris.


End file.
